Lifting-tongs foe



H. C. SMITH. LIIFTING TONGS FOR MRS. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 4. ma.

Patented Aug. 19, 1919.

INVENTOR. Jv'erman C. Sm Z'Lh,

'run COLUMBIA PLANOUHAPH cm. WASHINGTON, D C.

PATENT onsicn HERMAN C. SMITH, OF WATERLOO, IOWA.

LIFTING-TONGS FOB- JARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented All. 19, 1919.

Application filed December 4, 1918. Serial No. 265,197.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN C. SMITH, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Waterloo, Blackhawk county, Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lifting-Tongs for Jars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in lifting-tongs for jars, and the object of my improvement is to provide manually operable clamping-tongs formed and adapted to be used in lifting fruit jars during the difierent processes of canning, said device being inexpensive, simple in construction, and certain and easy in operation.

This object I have accomplished by the means which are hereinafter described and claimed, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved liftingtongs as applied to an ordinary glass fruitjar.

Fig. vice.

The device is constructed of a pair of rectangularly looped rods, medially hinged together in a manner to be described, certain opposite end cross-members of the loops as shown at 2 and 11 being used as handles, while the other opposite cross-members 6 and 15 are formed to serve as jar-clamping means.

The extremities of each of the pair of loops, 2-9 and 11-18 come together at a right angle, the tips of the parts 2 and 11 respectively being received and secured in eyes 10 and 19 respectivel formed on the tips of the said parts 9 and 8.

The opposite cross-members 6 and 15 of said loops are curbed outwardly on like arcs, and tubular sleeves 20 and 21 mounted thereon respectively, pref f soft 2 is a cross-section of a modified deerably made 0 rubber or other suitable elastic or flexible material to serve as frictional and compressible parts to clamp a jar 1 between them without injury or probability of displacement when the jar is being transported by said device from one place to another.

The side-members of said loops are in' each case oflset inwardly. One loop has its side-members medially offset at 4 and 8, to bring its parts 5 and 7 nearer together than its parts 3 and 9. The other loop also has its side parts let and 16 brought nearer together by the offset and twisted parts'13 and 17 respectively, the twists in each case formin g bearing eyes mounted on the offset parts 8 and 4 of the first-mentioned loop, to provide medial hinge connections for the loops.

It will be seen that with this form of hinge connection between the loops, when the clamping-members 6-20 and 1521 are positioned about opposite sides of an inclosed jar 1 as illustrated, and the cross-handle parts 2-11 grasped by the user, the parts 2 and 11 are forced toward each other, which causes the clan'iping-members to tightly clamp and hold the jar against displacement while it is being carried or deposited in a boiler or other place, without danger of slipping or breakage. The sleeves 20 and 21 being elastic and compressible grasp the opposite sides of the jar firmly and frictionally, preventing slipping or turning. When the handles 2 and 11 are allowed to spread apart by reason of the reaction of the sleeves 20 and 21, and the action of gravity, the device is readily removed from about the jar.

To easily mount said sleeves 20 and 21 upon the curved cross-members 6 and 15 respectively, the sleeves may be split along one side longitudinally at 22, then spread apart and slipped over said cross-members.

My device is especially intended to be em ployed in the handling of jars for canning purposes, but may be used in transporting any other article for which it may be fitted.

The device may be used to carry jars of different sizes, since the clamping-members are made on suitable arcs to permit the compressible sleeves to conforn'i themselves to the jar.

A modification is shown in Fig. 2, wherein the cross-connections 6 of the loops are medially offset outwardly at 23 to provide shoulders 24, and shorter elastic sleeves or pads 20 and 21 are mounted on the crosseonnections 6 between and engaging said shoulders 24L and the bent parts 15 at their angles, said shorter pads grasping the jar self-adjustingly at four separated places so as to conform to different sizes of jars.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

A device of the character described, comprising a pair of rods formed into closed g Y I 1,313,752

loops and hinged together medially, the vide four approximately equally spaced selfcross-connection of each loop atone end headjusting elanrps to'releasajbly grasp jars of ing medially offset outwardly to provide difl'eringdiameters between them.

shoulders, and relatively short elastic pads Signed at Waterloo, Iowa, this 15th day 10 mounted 011 said cross-eonnections on each of-Noxn, 1918.

side of and engaging said shoulders to pro- HERMAN C. SMITH.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for five-cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington DvG? 

